| name | structural-diagnosis |
| description | Use before analyzing overall story shape, pacing problems, or structural issues across chapters—not for single-scene review. |
Structural Diagnosis
Read this skill before analyzing overall story shape, pacing problems, or where the story is losing energy.
What structure is and is not
Structure is not the number of chapters or the presence of a midpoint. Structure is the shape of pressure: where it builds, where it releases, where the reader's understanding of the characters shifts.
A structurally sound story does not require symmetry. It requires that each major section does something the previous section could not do—raises a new question, removes a resource, forces a character to choose under increasing cost.
The three most common structural failures
The slack middle: the story has established its world and characters but is spinning without increasing pressure. Scenes exist to maintain status quo. Nothing the character does changes the cost of their situation. Diagnosis: the central conflict has been stated but not yet made personal. The character has not yet paid for anything.
The underpowered opening: the story begins with situation and context before it begins with character under pressure. The reader has information but no stakes. Diagnosis: the opening scene has not yet revealed what the character cannot afford to lose.
The collapsed climax: the final confrontation is emotionally large but thematically thin—something changes, but the story has not said anything by the time it ends. Diagnosis: the climax resolves plot but does not force the protagonist's false belief into direct confrontation.
Reading pacing at the story level
Pacing at the story level is not sentence rhythm—it is the ratio of scenes that escalate versus scenes that consolidate. A healthy story typically escalates more than it consolidates, especially after the midpoint. Too many consolidation scenes create the feeling of stalling.
Ask: in the last three chapters, has the cost to the protagonist increased? If not, the story is consolidating when it should be escalating.
The foreshadowing audit
Every planted element—image, promise, relationship dynamic, revealed information—creates a debt the story must pay. Unresolved plants create the feeling of incompleteness. Premature resolutions feel unearned.
Scan for: what has been planted that hasn't been used? What has been resolved that was planted too recently?
Anti-patterns
- Diagnosing structure by counting acts or chapter numbers rather than tracking pressure curves.
- Recommending cuts before understanding what emotional work the section is doing.
- Treating any problem as structural when it may be a single scene or character issue.
